Top 25: Week of 1/31

You know things are about to heat up in college basketball as we’ve reached the week of the first men’s UNC-Duke meeting of the season. When those two teams meet, you know football season is winding down, and we’re about to be a couple weeks away from college basketball taking over the sporting scene.

As we head towards the crunch time of the season, let’s check in on where the top 25 rankings stand after last week’s action.

Men’s Basketball

AP Top 25

1. Auburn Tigers (49 first place votes)
2. Gonzaga Bulldogs (12)
3. UCLA Bruins
4. Purdue Boilermakers
5. Kentucky Wildcats
6. Houston Cougars
7. Arizona Wildcats
8. Baylor Bears
9. Duke Blue Devils
10. Kansas Jayhawks
11. Wisconsin Badgers
12. Villanova Wildcats
13. Michigan State Spartans
14. Texas Tech Red Raiders
15. Providence Friars
16. Ohio State Buckeyes
17. UConn Huskies
18. Illinois Fighting Illini
19. USC Trojans
20. Iowa State Cyclones
21. Xavier Musketeers
22. Tennessee Volunteers
23. Texas Longhorns
24. Marquette Golden Eagles
25. LSU Tigers

Where is UNC?

Three victories last week did a good job of steadying the ship, but it hasn’t gotten the Heels any closer to the top 25. Carolina is still unranked and voteless this week.

Biggest Winners

Kentucky had the biggest jump of the week, moving up seven spots to #5. They got that thanks to going in Allen Fieldhouse and crushing Kansas, which isn’t something that happens often.

Biggest Losers

On the other side of that game, the Jayhawks fell five spots, but it was Kentucky’s conference mate that had the biggest drop of the week. LSU is now clinging onto #25 after a six spot drop, having lost four of five, including one to TCU.

Conference Breakdown

• Big 12: 5
• Big East: 5
• Big Ten: 5
• SEC: 4
• Pac-12: 3
• AAC: 1
• ACC: 1
• WCC: 1

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #11 Wisconsin (17-3, 8-3 Big Ten) at #18 Illinois (15-5, 8-2 Big Ten) - Wednesday at 9 PM ET on Big Ten Network
• #3 UCLA (16-2, 8-1 Pac-12) at #7 Arizona (17-2, 7-1 Pac-12) - Thursday at 8 PM ET on ESPN
• #8 Baylor (18-3, 6-2 Big 12) at #10 Kansas (17-3, 6-1 Big 12) - Saturday at 4 PM ET on ESPN

Women’s Basketball

AP Top 25

1. South Carolina Gamecocks (29 first place votes)
2. Stanford Cardinal
3. NC State Wolfpack (1)
4. Louisville Cardinals
5. Indiana Hoosiers
6. Michigan Wolverines
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Arizona Wildcats
9. Baylor Bears
10. UConn Huskies
11. Iowa State Cyclones
12. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
13. Texas Longhorns
14. Georgia Bulldogs
15. LSU Tigers
16. BYU Cougars
17. Maryland Terrapins
18. Oklahoma Sooners
19. Oregon Ducks
20. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
21. Iowa Hawkeyes
22. Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
23. Ohio State Buckeyes
24. North Carolina Tar Heels
25. Kansas State Wildcats

Where is UNC?

After dropping out of the top 25 last week, the Heels are back in and at #24 this week. They may have lost over the weekend, but they played #3 NC State close and had crushed then #21 Duke on the road earlier in the week.

Biggest Winners

Mid-major Florida Gulf Coast moved up four spots after improving to 19-1 last week. The Eagles have played just four games with a single digit final margin all season.

Biggest Losers

UNC were actually the cause of the biggest drop of the week as Duke fell five spots after taking that loss to the Heels. They went from #21 to the first team outside the top 25 in the “others receiving votes” section.

Conference Breakdown

• ACC: 5
• Big 12: 5
• Big Ten: 5
• SEC: 4
• Pac-12: 3
• Atlantic Sun: 1
• Big East: 1
• WCC: 1

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #13 Texas (15-4, 5-3 Big 12) at #9 Baylor (15-4, 5-2 Big 12) - Friday at 8 PM ET on ESPN2
• #7 Tennessee (18-2) at #10 UConn (13-4) - Sunday at 12 PM ET
• #12 Georgia Tech (17-4, 8-2 ACC) at #3 NC State (19-2, 10-0 ACC) - Monday at 6 PM ET on ESPN2